Winnipeg Jets Afternoon Links

Note: After the Jets game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction. As soon as illegalcurve.com is updated we notify you via Twitter | Facebook | Instagram.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Sun:  Boudreau on Jets being favoured to win series: “We’re glad we were invited to play”.  Minny coach taking us against the world attitude and that is probably a good one since it seems most are picking against the Wild in this series but kudos to the coach for handling it well.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets adopt playoff death slogan.  I cannot imagine anyone is gonna get too worked up over this.  Then again people get worked about about the smallest things so perhaps someone will.

Sportsnet:  Jets star sniper Patrik Laine ‘loves these big stages’.  One thing you can say about the Jets young sensation is he is certainly unflappable.

Sportsnet:  Jets poised to finally give mistreated Winnipeg fans hockey joy.  Not sure if mistreated is the word I would use since fans have been treated to some pretty spectacular teams/players in the past but they haven’t seen any real playoff success since the vaunted WHA days when Winnipeg was ruling that upstart league.

The Athletic Winnipeg:  Exploiting Soucy, special teams battle, and more to watch for in Winnipeg-Minnesota.  (Paywall).  An in-depth look at what is ahead for the Jets.

The Athletic Winnipeg:  How Connor Hellebuyck went from unknown NAHL invite to the Stanley Cup playoffs.  (Paywall).  Not quite a Milan to Minsk type story but if you’re curious about the progression of the Jets top netminder here ya go.

Illegal Curve:  Jets vs. Wild Game 1 Round 1 pre-game report. The Jets held an optional today as they get ready to face Minnesota at the Bell MTS Place tonight to kick off the playoffs.  Includes scrums with Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine.

Illegal Curve: Morning Papers.  If you missed any of the news we have you covered.

Jets video:

Sportsnet:  Winnipeg is ‘absolutely ready’ for winning playoff hockey.  NHL insider Mark Spector joins Sean Reynolds to get us set for the hype of playoff hockey returning to Winnipeg, who hasn’t experienced winning since the 80’s.

Jets audio:

TSN 1050 Toronto:  You can feel the country jumping on the Jets bandwagon.  TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun joined Leafs Lunch with Andi Petrillo, Craig Button and Andy Chiodo live from Winnipeg to tee-up the Jets/Wild series, the amazing story of Connor Hellebuyck and the hype around the Jets.

Illegal Curve:  Coach Maurice pre-game scrum topics.  Today’s chat with the Jets bench boss included – What is his message to the healthy scratches?  What does he say to Jaime Phillips who comes up in an emergency role?  How does dynamic change for Wild without Suter?  On Eric Staal’s resurgent season.  How would he describe Winnipeg as a hockey town?  What is the responsibility to the fans who have high expectations?  How would he describe Josh Morrissey’s development this season?  Is it overstated the jump from regular season to the playoffs?  On managing players minutes.  What can they do to get to the middle of the ice against a Wild team that is good at protecting the middle.  How does his defence adjust to the Wild attack?  What does he think of the Jets slogan?  On folks who may misinterpret the message.  How close are they to playing the game they need to be playing?  What is Bruce Boudreau like to coach against?